The Lives of Others wins over most of the critics, Buena Vista Social Club is coming to the West End and Phantom of the Opera is booking to October 2027. This is the week in London theatre.
A Robert Icke world premiere won over most of the critics, a Tony-winning Broadway musical confirmed it is coming to London and the Christmas season began to fill its rehearsal rooms. These are the stories Best of Theatre News covered between Friday 30 October and Friday 6 November.
Announcements and on sale
Buena Vista Social Club will have its West End premiere in 2027. No theatre or dates have been named yet, and the Broadway production closes on 17 January. Read the announcement.
Redcliffe, the musical Jordan Luke Gage wrote and stars in, transfers to the Criterion Theatre for 12 weeks from 28 January to 17 April 2027, with press night on 4 February. Read about the transfer.
Phantom of the Opera is now booking to October 2027 at His Majesty's Theatre. Kimberly Blake, Kate Graham and Luke Kempner join on Monday 23 November, and Ashley Gilmour returns as Raoul. Read the casting news.
The National Theatre's West Side Story plays the Olivier from 5 November 2027 to 12 February 2028. General booking opens at midday on Thursday 12 November, with 10,000 tickets held for under-25s at £10 to £30. Read the dates.
Ceilidh the Musical has extended at Shoreditch Town Hall. Its first stretch still ends on 13 November, and it returns for three more blocks: 23-28 November, 28 December to 11 January, and 19 January to 28 February 2027. Read the new dates.
David Bowie: You're Not Alone is now at Lightroom in King's Cross until 10 April 2027. Read about the extension.
Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words marks its 25th anniversary with a season at Sadler's Wells from 27 July to 21 August 2027; London booking opens on 16 November. Read the details. The same theatre has added more than 20 productions to its 2027 programme, among them Phoenix Dance Theatre's Sincerely, The Breakfast Club at Sadler's Wells East. See the new dates.
Paterson Joseph and Tameka Empson open Stratford East's 2027 season in Noises Off from 5 February. Read the season. Elsewhere in 2027: Parasocial Activity, Briony Martha's Fringe First winner, plays Southwark Playhouse Borough on 13-30 January (read more); the Globe's A Midsummer Night's Dream for young audiences runs from 4 March to 11 April (read more); and Belvoir's Counting and Cracking comes to Soho Theatre Walthamstow for LIFT on 15 June to 10 July (read more).
Giant, filmed at the Harold Pinter Theatre with John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, opens in cinemas on 19 November. Read about the screenings.
Casting
Kate Winslet, Brian Cox and Ambika Mod are among the final names for The Pelicot Trial, a single performance at London County Hall on Monday 30 November. Read the casting news, or read our guide to the evening.
Matt Willis returns as the Emcee in Cabaret for six weeks from 14 December, opposite Sarah Hyland as Sally Bowles. Read the casting news.
Jessica Hynes and Reece Shearsmith are the last guests to read White Rabbit Red Rabbit cold at the Duchess Theatre, where the run closes on 14 December. Read the casting news.
Kitty Harris and Kate Stewart are the Fairy Queens in the London Palladium's Cinderella, which opens on 5 December. See the full company.
All nine principals of The Choir of Man's UK tour stay with the show for its Christmas season at The Arts at Marble Arch, from 10 December. Read the casting news. At the King's Head Theatre, Rufus Hound, Vikki Stone and Ginger Johnson are among the one-night guests in the adults-only Dick Whittington. See the guest list.
On tour in 2027: Lauren Oakley of Strictly Come Dancing plays Roxie Hart in Chicago, opening at New Wimbledon Theatre on 5 February (read more), and Lewis Cope and Jonny Labey lead Strangers on a Train from Windsor on 15 January (read more).
Reviews
The Lives of Others averages 4.1 out of 5 from 19 rated reviews at the Adelphi Theatre, with seven five-star notices. Read the roundup.
Ceilidh the Musical averages 4.5 out of 5 from 17 rated reviews at Shoreditch Town Hall, the warmest London reception of the week. Read the roundup.
At the Royal Opera House, Carmen averages 3.8 out of 5 from six rated reviews (read the roundup), and The Royal Ballet's two-night tribute Madam 4.3 from three (read the roundup). English National Opera's Tosca splits the critics at 3.2 out of 5 from 13. Read the roundup.
The Bridge averages 3.8 out of 5 from 16 rated reviews at the Bush Theatre, where it runs until 11 November. Read the roundup. Speculations, with Janie Dee, has a cooler reception at the Marylebone Theatre: 2.5 out of 5 from 17. Read the roundup.
Also reviewed in London: The Moth at the Finborough Theatre, 3.2 out of 5, and Big Love at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre, 3.8.
Outside London, the new staging of The Snowman averages 4.8 out of 5 from 11 rated reviews of its Birmingham Rep run, ahead of Christmas at the Peacock Theatre (read the roundup). Jennifer Saunders in The Sea at Theatre Royal Bath and the RSC's Middlemarch Parts 1 & 2 both average 4.1 (read The Sea roundup; read the Middlemarch roundup).
First looks
Production photographs show Stephen Dillane, Keira Knightley and Luke Thompson in The Lives of Others. See the pictures. New pictures are also out for Speculations, the second-year company of The Hunger Games: On Stage (see the photos) and the 2026 touring cast of Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, at Wyndham's Theatre from 18 December (see the photos).
In the rehearsal rooms: Kathryn Hunter and Ben Whishaw in Eurotrash, which has added performances on 28 December and 2 January (read more); Chrissie Bhima in the Lyric Hammersmith's Cinderella (see the photos); Natasha Gordon's Nine Night at Kiln Theatre (see the photos); and ENO's Adriana Mater (see the photos).
Little Dancer has released a music video with Julian Ovenden and Laura Pitt-Pulford (watch it), and Avenue Q a clip of its finale with two months left at the Shaftesbury Theatre (watch it). Our eight things you might not know about Avenue Q goes behind the puppets. The stage version of The Traitors has a new film with Claudia Winkleman and Nick Mohammed. Read more.
Christmas
Our guide to Christmas shows in London 2026 sorts the season by the kind of night out you want. This week's features cover Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, Pinocchio at the Globe, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Park Theatre, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the National Theatre and Peppa Pig's Big Family Show! at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
The cast of Into the Woods switched on the Christmas lights in St Martin's Lane on Tuesday. Read about the switch-on. The National Youth Theatre's Nail Bar reopens on the Holloway Road on 4-13 December. Read more.
Awards and industry
Glasgow's Citizens Theatre was named Great British Theatre 2026 at the first Great British Theatres Awards, and Julie Hesmondhalgh received the Lifetime Achievement Award. See the winners. Mazz Murray and Gina Murray host the WhatsOnStage Awards for a third time, on Sunday 28 February 2027. Read more.
Tom Littler leaves the Orange Tree Theatre to run the Arts Theatre Cambridge from June 2027 (read more), and Waleed Akhtar has won the Hermitage Major Theater Award (read more).
This weekend and next week
Last chances: Tango After Dark ends at Sadler's Wells on Monday 9 November and The Bridge at the Bush on Wednesday 11 November. Ceilidh the Musical's first block ends on Friday 13 November, and Kimberly Akimbo, TRU, Franz & Marie and Iphigenie en Tauride all close on Saturday 14 November.
Starting next week: A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic on Tuesday 10 November, Pride The Musical at the Bridge Theatre on Thursday 12 November, and The Jungle Book at the National Theatre's Olivier, Eurotrash at the Young Vic and Sylvia at the Royal Albert Hall, all on Friday 13 November.
Planning further ahead? Our guides list the West End shows closing soon and those opening soon.
